Broncos lose a dramatic five-set match to Briercrest

Jadon Frank, Olds College Athletics

OLDS, AB - Olds College Broncos men's volleyball team lost 3-2 (25-16, 22-25, 17-25, 26-24, 15-12) to the Briercrest College Clippers in the Christmas Celebration Night Friday, Nov. 29 at the Ralph Klein Centre.

Briercrest jumped out to a 6-1 lead and forcing an Olds timeout. Briercrest scored out of the timeout but the Olds scored the next two points to cut the score to 7-3. Briercrest then went on a four point run to extend their lead. Olds was unable to maintain any momentum as they were able to get one point at a time and Briercrest were able to go on a run each time they got serve, building their lead to 19-8. Olds went on a four point run to cut the lead to 20-12. Olds went on a run out of the timeout to cut the lead to 20-15. Briercrest then went on a run to take the set 25-16.

Briercrest got the first point of the second set but then Olds jumped back to get the next two points to take the lead. Olds extended their lead to 6-2 off the serving of Braden Bates. The teams exchanged points with Briercrest gradually cutting into the Olds lead until they brought the score to 8-7 for Olds. Thundersky Walkingbear walked up to the service line and built the lead to 10-7. Briercrest cut the score to 11-10, before Ryzen Walkingbear served Olds to a 14-12 lead. Briercrest came back to take a 15-14 lead. The teams then exchanged points with Olds building up a two point lead at 17-15, but unable to extend the lead beyond two points until taking a 20-17 lead. Briercrest cut the lead to 20-19 and forced an Olds timeout. Olds was able to keep their lead, extending it to 23-21 and then 24-22 and forcing a Briercrest timeout. An incredible rally and huge block from Lukas Dragicevic and Thundersky Walkingbear won the set 25-22.

The third set started where the second left off with teams going back and forth exchanging the lead. Olds pulled away to a 6-3 lead before the teams exchanged points and Briercrest timeout at 7-4 for Olds. Thundersky Walkingbear had a monster service ace to bring the score to 9-4, and then Braden Bates extended the lead to 11-5. Briercrest then pushed back and brought the score to 13-10 before another Thundersky Walkingbear kill brought the serve back to Olds. Thundersky followed that up with an ace to build the lead up to 17-13. The Broncos continued to build their lead to 19-13 and forced a Briercrest timeout. They built the lead up to 21-13 out of the timeout. Briercrest then went on a short run to cut the lead to 22-17. A Ryzen Walkingbear ace brought the Broncos lead to 24-17. Olds took the third set 25-17.

The fourth set started with neither team able to take a substantial lead and teams exchanging leads until the Broncis were able to build a 17-14 lead. Briercrest pushed back and tied the score 17-17 before taking an 18-17 lead. Olds pushed back and took a 19-18 lead. The teams exchanged leads until Briercrest took a timeout at 24-24. Briercrest scored two quick points to win the fourth set 26-24.

The teams went back and forth exchanging leads to start the fifth set with the Broncos taking a 6-4 lead. Briercrest clawed back to take tie the score before Ryzen Walkingbear unloaded a huge kill. Briercrest took an 8-7 lead into the break. Briercrest scored an ace out of the break before Olds scored to make the score 9-8 for Briercrest. After Briercrest took an 11-8 lead, the Broncos took two timeouts to recollect themselves. Olds scored on a long Briercrest serve out of the timeouts and then a Thundersky Walkingbear kill brought the score to 11-10 for Briercrest and forcing a Clippers timeout. Ryzen Walkingbear scored an ace off a serve to the face to tie the game 11-11. The teams went back and forth with Briercrest taking one point leads. The teams were tied 12-12, and then Briercrest ended the game at 15-12 to win the match 3-2.

Player of the game for Briercrest was Karym Coleman with a game high 19 kills and the Pit Barbecue Player of the Game for the Broncos was Thundersky Walkingbear with a team high 13 kills and a game high four service aces.

Broncos held the advantage in service aces 8-6, digs 67-54 and blocks 14-11 while Briercrest held the advantage in kills 54-42 and assists 52-34. Thomas Pugsley had a game high 30 assists, Jesse Stoddart had a game high 20 digs and Thomas Pugsley and River Thomas had a team high three blocks for Olds.

The Broncos host Briercrest College again tomorrow Saturday, Nov. 30 at 1:00 pm for Every Child Matters game.

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